Tag Archives: writing biz

Tramadol and Paradox

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The Tramadol thrashed my ass. Had a bit of a headache after the D*C staff meeting and was feeling somewhat logy, so took a Tramadol, thinking “hey, a little pick-me-up along with surcease of pain, all good.” Knocked me totally out for the night. I was chatting with Matthew after dinner, watching the finale of Charmed, hanging out with Hobkin, and then I was slumped down on the couch, dead to the world. And I stayed that way, even through a relocate to the bedroom, until the morning.

But, on an up note, no headache.

The staff meeting was good fun. More socializing this time around than working, although I suspect fosteronfilm would say the opposite as he was running around trying to get stuff done while I was chatting with arkhamrefugee about Sin City and dropping off a box of DVDs for the Film Festival while I was waving hello to bevlovesbooks. Did get some work done, hooked up with roget and dire_epiphany and astralfire to verify some details, touched base with Sara-of-no-LJ to coordinate our shared inventory needs, and snagged a couple new reporters–pending the a-ok on their writing samples. A productive and enjoyable meeting.

And, on an abrupt change of subject: For your psychedelic viewing pleasure (discovered via fahkingnut) the Zoom Quilt. Very cool.


Writing Stuff

Got the galleys to approve from Paradox for “The Tiger Fortune Princess.” The editor reports the issue will come out mid-June. Very looking forward to it.

D*C staff meeting

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Today’s the second Dragon*Con all-staff meeting. My staff roster is fubarred to hell. I’ve had several staff drop out, several new volunteers sign on, and I have no idea what my numbers look like anymore. Something I need to figure out before the meeting, obviously.

It’ll all work out. How? It’s a mystery.


Writing Stuff

Got an email from the editor of the Modern Magic anthology. He informed me that they now have the cover art by David Seidman for display:

Isn’t it gorgeous? And what’s even better, the editor and the artist want to put together an art book featuring the art from the anthology with a description of the artistic progress involved with each illustration. They also want to include an excerpt from each story to accompany the illustrations, and are paying $.03/word for it. Sweet!! More money for “Souls of Living Wood.” Happy.

Zombie-husband and cannonball skunk

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fosteronfilm is currently downtown in Buckhead, having brunch with a movie contact, doing the networking thing. This has whacked his normal sleep-wake cycle totally for the day, so I expect he’ll be zombie-like this evening.

I’m pretty sure Hobkin is in full spring fever mode. He’s frisky and full of mischief. Last night he went tearing around the house, stomping at furniture and attacking our feet. Skunks are the only animal I’ve seen that compact when they hit their “speed” stride (which isn’t exactly speedy). All the other animals I’ve watched elongate, stretching out to maximize their gait. But Hobkin, when he runs, scrunches into a fuzzy ball with a huge banner of a tail, sort of a half prance/half scamper, rather than a gallop. He’s like a cannonball with paws . . . and a tail. It’s adorable.


Writing Stuff

Got emailed the final draft of the interview Apex is going to run to look over. The intro made me grin. The editor called me “vibrant” and a “dynamo.”

Glimmer Train, however, were less flattering. Got the “we won’t be publishing this particular piece” form reject from them. Alas.

White blood count down

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Got a phone call from my Rheumatologist’s office yesterday. I was at the interview, so wasn’t there to pick up. Didn’t notice the message light was flashing until after lunch. I don’t like phones, so I had fosteronfilm call them back. My doc folks typically give Matthew a hard time, saying that they’re not allowed to talk to him about me–even though I swear I filled out a form thingy giving them permission to do so–but my Rheumatologist’s staff are cool. After a brief check pause, they told Matthew why they called.

It seems that the lab work I had done revealed that my white blood count is down. This could be due to the Imuran, in which case it’s bad. Quite bad. I’m going back in for more lab work in a couple weeks–having them leech out more blood–to determine if it was a fluke or a real concern. If my count remains down, they’re going to have to pull me from the Imuran. I’m very unhappy at that possibility, not that I’m joyous about taking Imuran or anything, actually the stuff terrifies me when I think about it, but we just got all my medications leveled out. The prospect of starting another med, risking allergic reactions and other side-effects, perhaps even a flare-up, is a depressing one. Thought I’d managed to get on an even keel. Although I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Been under a lot of stress. Of course my stupid human suit would freak out.


Writing Stuff

Received payment for “When the Lights Go Out” today. In pounds sterling, even, and currently the exchange rate between pounds and dollars is pretty sweet. A nice little pick-me-up.

My folktale is now up at Critters. Three crits this morning (including one from wistling, thanks!). It’s being well-received thus far.

Interview interview interview. Eee!

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I’m cautiously optimistic at how the job interview went. The initial design analysis test was actually somewhat fun, although I had expected to have a computer to type my answers out on, and instead I had to write them out longhand. I felt sorry for the panel of system analysts that had to review my work. Ever since elementary school, my handwriting has been the bane of my English teachers and penmanship instructors. The panel part was light and chatty, with some laughter–laughter is always a good thing–and one of the analysts in the panel had been to Dragon*Con a couple times, which made me happy. I like the idea of working with fellow fan-types.

The senior analyst I was supposed to meet with was out sick, so I may need to go back in to interview with her, but it could be a phone interview (ugh) instead. I’d much rather go in again. I like face-to-face so much better than voice-to-voice.

Overall, I found it to be a solid, stable company, very pleasant environment, with an excellent future. It’s a good size, not so small that it could fold at the whimsy of the markets, but not so big (unlike my previous company) that it’s mired in red tape and flaming hoops. And they’re quite close. The travel time is about the same as the one I had previously, dependent, of course, on traffic.

The recruiter person said I’d probably hear back one way or another in a couple weeks.

It’d be nice to have the security of being a cubicle-monkey again.


Writing Stuff

Received my contrib. copy of Here & Now #5/6 with “When the Lights Go Out” in it. It’s a monster double-issue, full sized with a glossy cover. And mine is the very last story. It’s been a long time coming. And I’ve still got accepted stories awaiting publication in issues #7 and #8. Haven’t been paid yet, though.

Also got an email from my agent. HarperCollins passed on my novel, but the editor had some incredibly nice things to say:

“I surprised myself by liking very much Eugie Foster’s Shao Huan: The Soul of a Badger. She writes well, which of course drew me in, but more than that, the development of the relationship between Yeye and Shao Huan was handled with real skill and never became unbelievable . . . Alas, this isn’t quite what I’m looking for here at HarperCollins. It’s excellent, but a tad too quiet for my tastes . . . But I did like this very much, and I am grateful you let me have a look at it.”

As rejections go, it’s an extremely encouraging one. My agent is sending my manuscript off to Viking next. Onward.

Happy Chocolate Chip Day!

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Yesterday was National Chocolate Chip Day. To celebrate, I made cookies from scratch. Not being an experienced baker, there was a certain mess factor. The cookies came out pretty yummy, if I do so say so myself. But I didn’t know you need to remove them from the sheet as soon as they come out of the oven or they stick. So getting them off–after giving them several minutes to cool–was an exercise in mangled cookies. And our resident fuzzy chocolate chip did not make things any easier. We’ve never given Hobkin chocolate chip cookies because, of course, chocolate is as toxic for skunks as it is for dogs and other animals, but somehow the smell of baking cookies was enough to get him in full beg mode. So while I tried to transfer torn and crumbled cookie bits from the cookie sheet to the plate, Hobkin was dancing around at my feet, ready to snap up any crumbs that fell. I managed to keep him from ingesting any chocolate, but at the cost of a greater mess on the counters. And because he had such a hopeful look on his little face, when we had our choco-chip cookies, he got his own treat–safe, non-chocolate chip, veggie biscuits. I know, I’m such a sucker.

fosteronfilm and I gorged ourselves sick. And there’s plenty more cookie-blob for dessert tonight. Mmm.

Watched Cat People on DVD a la Netflix, which I’d only seen on television before. The TV version is apparently VERY cut. The whole ending is edited out, as are some rather key scenes. It was as though I’d never seen it before. Unsurprisingly, it’s a much better movie uncut.

Got an email from the corporate recruiter, checking up on me. I can’t get a requirements document that isn’t jam-packed full of proprietary information. If I try to clean that information up, it makes it nonsensical. Grumph. I explained the situation to the recruiter and he’s letting me send in a writing sample instead. I hope the substitution doesn’t knock me out of the running.


Writing Stuff

Heard that a previous sale I’d made to an anthology is dead in the water. I can’t say I’m actually disappointed. When I submitted to the antho, it hadn’t found a publisher yet (not a project situation I usually trust, but I’m on friendly terms with the editor). Then he sold his anthology to Cyberpulp, leaving me ambivalent overall about the project. I’ve heard some questionable first-hand things from reputable writers about them. I didn’t want to pull the story from the project and leave the editor high and dry, but at the same time I knew I would need a pretty solid contract in writing from Cyberpulp before I allowed them to print anything of mine. And my alarm lights flashed big time when the editor asked for a short email sentence to give permission for Cyberpulp to publish my story in lieu of a contract, to the effect of “I give permission for Cyberpulp to publish my story in XXX anthology.” No discussion of rights transferred, payment, or royalty statements. So I emailed the editor back and told him I’d need something more substantive than that, and I wanted it in writing. But it appears I wasn’t the only writer with reservations. In the end, only eight of the accepted authors responded (perhaps the others, like me, were concerned about the absence of a contract), and the editor killed the anthology. While I’m bummed at having a story newly orphaned, I’m a bit relieved.

Popped my “edits are a-okay” letter into the mail to my Cricket editor.

And I got another piece of fan mail today on “The Storyteller’s Wife.” I’m so very delighted that it’s being so well received.

Zen Saturday

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In keeping with yesterday morning’s clarity, I spent the day just recovering/maintaining my emotional equilibrium, wallowing in that-which-makes-Eugie-content. fosteronfilm wanted to see the marathon showing of the classic Fly movies–The Fly, Return of the fly, and Curse of the Fly–on the Fox movie channel. They were perfect, amusing in a totally undemanding way, and periodically just plain silly. Good background for light writing work, especially with a cuddlesome skunk pressed against my side. Made some nummy homemade pizza–fresh mushrooms and green olives, mmmm–and watched the season and show finale of Enterprise. Again, amusing, undemanding, and periodically silly. To round out the day, I mixed up some gin & tonics, and we put on The Sea Hawk–Errol Flynn gallivanting around in pirate pants, accompanied by the ever-heroic, Korngold score. The gin worked its medicinal goodness and when the movie was over, I fell into a restful, mostly-dreamless sleep, Hobkin curled up in my arms.

I woke this morning refreshed and balanced. There’s a bit of a strain to maintaining that sense of tranquility. On the edges of my mind are all the stressors and anxieties that I’ve been fixating on, not to mention my wingstubs hurt like the dickens. I have to work to relax, if that makes any sense. But I am grateful for the serenity I have now, no matter how fleeting it may be.


Writing Stuff

Received the proposed edits from my Cricket editor for both “Li T’ien and the Demon Nian” and “Cuhiya’s Husband.” Spent large chunks of the sillier scenes of The Fly sequels going over the edits and then doing some supplementary research to answer a couple of her questions. Will mail that out tomorrow.

My correspondences with her are always lovely ego boost. She said she’s discovered my blog! My Cricket editor reads my blog! *waves*

Damn you, LJ!

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Well, crap. LJ ate my original post. Bastards! That’ll teach me not to compose in a client.

In brief, I didn’t exercise yesterday, so that counter gets zeroed out. Bad Eugie. I got distracted by a work issue and by the time I had it sorted out–not resolved, but sorted out–I was exhausted and it was very late. So I went to sleep instead of getting out the yoga mat. Foo. Well, I knew I sucked at sticking to an exercise program, so I’m not totally disheartened.

Also, our DVD-ROM is not well. It’s troubled. It errors out on more burns that it succeeds on. Matthew thinks we may have a bad DVD-R spindle, which is possible. He just opened a new one and all of the errors have occurred on those discs. But the burner might be ailing too. Hardware problems. I don’t like hardware problems.


Writing Stuff

Got a registered and insured package from DHL this morning. Thankfully the delivery person was quite determined as I was not in any condition to answer the door. She rang the bell and then pounded on the door when that didn’t bring me fast enough. A hastily-donned night shirt and jamie-pants later, I was delighted to see the package was from Greece! After tearing it open, I confirmed that it was indeed my check from 9 for my “Adventures of Manny the Mailmobile” reprint. Yay for being paid! It’s in Euros and I don’t know how much the bank will subtract in the exchange, but money is good. Amusing that that little ditty of a story that I rattled out with my tongue firmly planted in cheek has earned me so much money, over $1000 between the Cicada sale and the 9 reprint for a 4K worder. Sweet. I immediately sent off another reprint to 9 in the hopes they’ll translate and buy another reprint. I love the Greeks.

New words: 1000
On an essay. Normally I wouldn’t count non-fiction writing, but this one was hard to write and it took up all of my fiction-writing time to compose. It’s not meant for publication either, but I’m going to count it in my 100/day dammit. Although not in my 500 tally.

Handed off the folktale to Matthew to first reader. He hasn’t yet. I shall prod him mercilessly.

Club 100 For Writers
37

Working working working

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Sick and tired of hurting, and fed up with filling my LJ with “ow, ow, poor me” posts, so I’ll just gloss over that part and leave it at “ouch.”

10 min/day
5
Dragged Matthew out for a walk around the neighborhood.


Writing Stuff

Received a note out of the blue from an editor who had previously rejected a story after requesting a rewrite. After some pondering, he’s changed his mind and wants it now. But, of course, it’s already out at another market, one that I’ve sold to before, which makes me definitely inclined not to pull it. Erm. Puts me in a strange position. I’ve emailed the editor back and told him that if the current market where it’s under consideration passes on it, he can have it, but that it might take several months (or longer–these folks don’t respond quickly) before I’ll know for sure.

Weird.

Wrote and published a couple reviews for Tangent. Also added a new poetry category. We’re reviewing poetry now, thanks to gardenwaltz, our new poetry reviewer. I’m pretty jazzed ’bout that.

Been pondering writing an editorial for Tangent to provide another voice to it, but I don’t really want to launch into a political diatribe, and I sort of feel that most of the “hot” topics in the specfic consciousness are either silly (“What is Fantasy/Science Fiction/Slipstream/etc?”) or have been talked/debated/argued into the ground by luminaries far more knowledgeable than lil ole me (The state of the short fiction market, recent trends in subject matter, etc.)

I dunno. Is there anything people who read short fiction (and poetry) SF/F/H reviews really want discussed in an editorial?

A Harmony of Foxes
New words: 122
Cranked out a minimum number and called it a day. Trying to give my wingstubs a rest.

Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
15,624 / 45,000
(34.0%)

Club 100 For Writers
30

Exercise resolution

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I’ve noticed that lately my coordination is totally gone, as in careen-off-walls and walk-into-the-coffee-table gone, and there is a distinct lack of muscle tone anywhere on my body. I mean crap, I used to be a dancer, for godsakes. I did ballet, karate, and yoga, and now I can’t walk up a couple flights of stairs without getting tired. Not to mention I’m afraid to step on the scale.

So I broke out the yoga mat last night. Began some easy asanas, a couple sun salutations, then segued that into some ridiculously low-key ballet exercises. After getting my heart rate up, and feeling my muscles freak out on some grand plies (sheesh), I switched back to yoga to cool down. I’m totally disgusted at how badly out of shape I am. But I feel good that I actually moved. I think being at home so much has degraded an already sedentary life style. It’s pathetic, not to mention unhealthy.

So I’m going to, once again, try to stick some exercise into my daily schedule. I can’t complain that I don’t have the time for it anymore, that’s for sure. I’m really bad at sustaining work out resolutions, but I’m thinking that if I log the days that I work out in my LJ, sort of like my club 100 efforts with my writing, I might be able to keep a better handle on my goals. Thus, I’m going to try to work out for a measly ten minutes a day, every day (except weekends, because I believe in weekends), for one hundred days straight:

10 Min/Day
1


Writing Stuff

Got an email from the editor of Here & Now asking for my PayPal information so she’ll know where to send my payment. Double issue #5/6 with my short story “When the Lights Go Out” is due back from the printers any day now. Finally and woohoo!

Also, anaisdotmfk.com launched early. It’s up, it’s up! Stories in there by me, wicked_wish, naamah_darling, the editrix herself, jinzi, and more. Go read. Juicy erotica. You know you want it!

I decided not to tear open my submission packet on the folktale. If I start second guessing myself now, it won’t be long before they come to put me in a nice, padded room. Down that path lies madness. Madness! So it’s winging it’s way to my Cricket editor’s desk now. Fly little story!

Words: 1178.
Back to work on A Harmony of Foxes. Although now that I’ve once again emptied my waiting queue to the Cricket folks, I’m wondering if I should crank out another to put in reserve as I could hear back from them on a submission as soon as the next couple weeks. Ponder ponder.

Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
14,434 / 45,000
(32.0%)


Club 100 For Writers
24

500/day
37